I don’t know if it’s been asked before. If so y’all can redirect me to the right place and mods can delete this. 
 

 What I am wondering has anyone seen or done a definitive analysis on what color lines work or don’t work? In terms of what fish can see or don’t see. 

I used clear/blue fluorescent lines in the 70’s & 80’s, 90’s and even now. The waters I fish are in areas where the water is anything but clear. No one will convince me I’m fishing in err…

 

In Fisherman once stated and as other reputable biologists have studied the “sounds” that fishing lines can make coming thru the water.. I believe in those studies..

Not really. 

 

I generally go by how clear or stained the water is, and if I'm fishing a heavily pressured lake.

 

Whether or not certain fish are spooked by the presence of line in the water is not known.  But it's a variable I can control, so I am going to control it.  There's already enough other obstacles in my way that are out of my control.

 

If you are looking for something that YOU can see better, go with a high vis color main line and then tie a clear leader to the end of it.

50 minutes ago, Sota said:

I don’t know if it’s been asked before. If so y’all can redirect me to the right place and mods can delete this. 
 

 What I am wondering has anyone seen or done a definitive analysis on what color lines work or don’t work? In terms of what fish can see or don’t see. 

As far as a direct answer to your question, I know of no studies as being considered a definitive analysis..

There could be though. Someone who might be keen to this information is @bulldog1935 😁

Some Saltwater species I can say are, Redfish come to my mind.. (in my experience) fishing in the Caribbean, predominantly w spinning gear using 8-12 pound mono I’ve caught a lot of different fishes, Tarpon, various snapper, barracuda , rays. This is just my personal experience. 

I use high vis braid with flouro leader, 6'-7'. When I fish heavy cover without leader I use 832 camo. Water here is tannic stained. Don't know if it makes a difference or not. I catch a lot of fish. It does seem my catch rate has gone up using flouro, might be my imagination.....

23 hours ago, F14A-B said:

.... Someone who might be keen to this information is @bulldog1935 

I'm in a very specific subset, because I fish threadline braid, all about the diameter of 4-lb mono, and add short fluoro shock leader.  

While my favorite braid is white Varivas Si-X (for the tough coating), I've fished spools of pentagram colors up to 3 years.  

 

Line color is not an issue.  All natural waters contain plant fibers.  No fish has the IQ to discern the difference.  The fish I catch with the best eyesight include snook in saltwater - and just a few weeks ago, longnose gar, which have the best eyesight of any freshwater fish.  

Adding a note specific to hi-vis colors like fluorescent yellow and green:  

They're not a negative, at least in part, because you can see them, but in reflecting bright light, they're less of a shadow to a fish looking up.  What makes fluorocarbon line work is not because it's completely invisible, but because it transmits 100% UV, while monofilament nylon absorbs UV, creating a UV shadow to a fish looking up.  

 

Decades of fly fishing, I much prefer bright-colored fly lines that I can see - fish don't need camoflagued line, and I don't, either.  

also consider that buzzbaits, safety-pin spinners, even umbrella rigs, jitterbugs and flap-feather baits catch fish - presentation and action is more important than detail, form and color.  

I always preferred "invisible" or as close to as invisible lines as possible.  My long time fishing buddy always used high visibility lines.  Some days I caught more while other days he caught more.  I have to say I really didn't see a difference based on line color.

Consider this.  Virtually every pro angler on each pro tour uses a main line with some kind of leader. These guys are fishing for their livelihood.

 

That alone is enough to convince it’s something to consider.

I have read many times that a black lure is the most visible to bass, then the next article I read, the author talks about taking a black felt marker and coloring the last couple of feet of an anglers braid to make it less visible.  In other words, pick the color you like.

On 4/29/2025 at 12:58 PM, Sota said:

What I am wondering has anyone seen or done a definitive analysis on what color lines work or don’t work?

Dr Keith Jones is his book Knowing Bass discusses research done at Berkley Fishing where they put strands of mono and FC line vertically in a tank with bass.  They attached the lines to sensors to detect when the bass ran into the line.  They also moved the lines periodically.  They found that the fish ran into the FC line more often than the mono.  Assuming bass don't like to run into line they assumed that this meant that the FC was less visible to the bass.   This was not a study on line color.  It also does not say anything about whether fish are line shy and associate line with danger.  

In heavily hit water, fish learn to associate feeding with danger, which is why they feed in time cycles.  

When the urge to eat overcomes the fear, one fish will eat, and they will all feed in competition, then settle back into fear cycle  

I'm going to state again that fish don't have the IQ to associate line with danger, and maybe my decades on the water excel above a Berkley grad student.  

I already know my fishing (and filet table) data on speckled trout life cycle is beyond academia and fisheries bureaucrats on the subject.  

 

30 years ago in a conservation board meeting, I was barked down over my observations of phosphorus fall tertilizer run-off in native limestone creeks - we don't accept anecdote, only academic research - and unfortunately, my  observations panned into population-growth dilema.  

I used green line forever, but switched to clear when fluoro came out.  Now I buy clear CXX as well... for the gain in above-water visibility. 

Don't know if this video will answer your question https://bonfirebob.com/choosing-fishing-line-color/

I have a couple of considerations.  First, I am a line watcher who fishes a lot of finesse plastics, I am more concerned about me seeing the line than the fish.  As a result, I use a clear blue fluorescent mono for 90% of my applications.  I do not do braid to leader on anything.  That’s just personal preference.  I do not like braids personality for finesse and I don’t like adding another failure point to my baits.  I do use braid but it’s always direct tied and fished punching, dragging, or tossed to bedding fish which don’t give a hoot about seeing the line.  

I like the smoke green color that Sufix Siege has. where I fish it blends right in 

I just don't believe it makes a difference. We worry about sewing thread diameter line on a crank bait with 2 very visable  treble hooks on it. The A-rig looks like a wad of coat hangers coming thru the water column. And then I watched a Tactical Bassin' underwater video on different jerkbaits thrown on 10 lb fluro. When the light penetration was at a certain depth, the fluro glowed like a neon tube. If a bass is feeding, it will sieze the opportunity. 

I have no sound evidence. My confidence lies in dark green/od green mono though. I see fibrous algae that looks like this. I figure the fish can see the line to matter what, and even in clear water, the green line will look more like a strand of algae to them.

this explains why UV reflection, absorption/transmission is more important than our visible light color.  Note that blue, purple and UV are the only light bands that make it below 7'

https://www.glangler.com/blogs/articles/uv-ultraviolet-light

Thank you for sharing the UV chart👍

Tom

Sorry but I didn’t read the uv light link.

Can someone explain how or what color lures and line are visible at the 10+ ft range that only uv light penetrates?

Here’s a direct link to the video in the article @ike8120 linked to earlier.   You can judge for yourself how quickly colors are filtered out at depth.

Also UV light does not penetrate deeper than blue light and while some fish may be able to see in the UV spectrum there is no evidence that adult bass can see UV.  
 

https://www.marinescienceexplained.org/post/how-color-changes-with-water-depth

 

add in the fact that not a single human being can tell me what a bass can see with certainty...

 

I just buy what I can see on the surface if I need it.  the rest is total guesswork.   fluorocarbon it is!  if I wasn't catching fish, it would be a problem.  but whatever.   so until fish can talk to us and do that eye chart thing underwater..:D